Clark Taninger took his seat at the head of the conference table. He glanced at his four children in their usual seats and his assistant Caroline Davis at his side.
"Friday, October 6, the executive management meeting of Taninger Enterprises will come to order," he said. "Hold the notes for a minute, Caroline. Our first matter is personal." Chagrined, he crossed his arms, elbows on the table, and turned to Kate. "Well?"
"I guess you all know what happened," said Kate. "I don't see why we should discuss it here."
"We'll fight this!" said Laura, sitting at the edge of her chair. "We'll get you back into Collier."
"Now the arsonist wants to put out the fire!" Clark bellowed, glaring at Laura.
"As usual, Laura makes a mess for our family, and we have to figure out how to clean it up!" Irene accused.
"That's not true, Irene, and you know it," said Kate.
"Laura, this has to stop. We can't keep being the hostages in wars you get yourself into!" Billie added, his voice peppered with anger. Then he turned to Kate. "And you have to go back to school!"
"I'm not going back."
"You have to finish your education," said her father.
"JT didn't go to college," she replied.
"Honey, Dad's right," said Laura. "That was okay in JT's day, but not today. I'll fight this with you! We'll take our case to Collier's alumni donors. We'll get them to withhold their contributions until you're reinstated, and this horrible injustice is fixed!"
"But I don't want to go back," Kate said calmly.
"How can you say that? You have to go back. They're not going to win!" Laura's hands curled into two fists ready to pound the table.
"It's not just that they're wrong," Kate spoke sadly. "It's that they don't care if they're wrong. They don't care what's right or wrong. They don't care if they're unfair to me. So why should I go back?"
Clark turned to Kate. "I want you back at Collier. I think I can pull some strings."
"None of you seem to understand," Kate said calmly. "I don't want to be in a place where I have to self-censor my every word, my every sentence, even my every thought, with the fear that I'll be slammed down. I don't want to live in . . . fear."
Clark didn't seem to hear his daughter's plea. "You'll go back to school, Katie. I have friends I can speak to on Collier's board of trustees. You may have to grovel a little, and maybe that's good for you!"
"Me? What do I have to grovel about?"
"If I do get you back in, you'll stay out of Laura's squabbles!" Clark ordered.
"A word of advice from your big brother, Katie. If Dad gets you back in, forget you even know Laura, and you'll be fine."
"Let Laura fight her own battles." Irene added.
Laura nodded sadly and said, "They're right, Kate. I absolutely forbid you to get involved in my affairs. I don't want to be the cause of you not finishing your education."
"If I can arrange it, you're going back to Collier. It's settled," Clark directed.
"Dad, Collier's not the same as it was when you went. You wouldn't recognize it now."
"We're Taningers. We adjust to changing times," her father insisted.
"You mean, we placate angry mobs? Is that how we adjust? No thanks!"
"You'll go back! No daughter of mine will be a dropout."
Kate stood up and held her arms out to quiet her family.
"You don't seem to get it," she said, her voice resolute. "They talk a foreign language at Collier. Oh, they use English words, but what do they mean by them? They use the same words we use, but these words don't mean the same thing to them." Her face lost its usual glow. She looked older.
"The protestors talk about wanting justice, but what they mean is they want their group to set the rules for the rest of us. They talk about fairness, but what they mean is they want their side to get away with crushing anybody who doesn't think like they do. They talk about ending bigotry, but they have the most horrible bigotry of all, the bigotry against ideas. They beat down people whose ideas don't click with theirs, and they get a sick thrill out of doing it. They talk about ending oppression but what they want is the power to oppress anyone who's an outlier, who doesn't hang with their crowd, who thinks differently."
Kate shook her head. "I feel so out of place there. I feel like I'm in a maze, where up is down, and right is left, and there's a different world outside, but nobody in the maze can see it. The protestors live in that maze, and they don't want to get out. And the administration sides with them." She paused, incredulous at her own conclusions. "At Collier, it's their side that wins."
There was an awkward pause as the others realized how serious she was.
"You're sounding more and more like JT every day, even more than Laura!" Clark shook his head disapprovingly.
"But Katie, there are better people at Collier. Think of the Voice. Your staff stuck with you!" said Laura.
"And I'll stick with them. I'd like to continue publishing the Voice, if I can still use your funding, but redirect it to a new enterprise," Kate said, looking at Laura.
"Of course you can, if that's what you want. But I'd like to see you—"
"We'll drop 'Collier' from the newspaper's name," Kate said thoughtfully. "We'll just be an indie newspaper called the Voice, and we'll cultivate an audience outside of Collier, a young people's newspaper for the broader Washington, DC, area. I think students who worked on the Voice will join me in the new endeavor. That'll be enough for me to do right now."
"There have to be other schools that will take you, Kate," said Laura. "Not all colleges have deans like Collier's. I'll help you find a better place."
"No," said Kate.
"Okay, not now. You'll take a little time off now, and maybe in six months, you'll reconsider going back. Then we can work on getting you into another college to finish up." Laura persisted.
"Maybe," Kate said noncommittally.
Laura's head dropped. "I don't want my enemies to wreck your life—"
"It's not your fault, Laura! I'm glad all of this happened. Now I know what they're really like, those zombies who run Collier. With one editorial, JT would've smashed them!"
Kate took her seat, ending any further objections.
Unable to chip away at the iron will of his youngest, Clark sighed in frustration. "Okay. Let's move on," he said, looking at Caroline, whose hands moved to her keyboard, ready to start taking notes. "Laura first."
"Revenues, ratings, and readership are the highest they've ever been for Taninger News," said Laura. The others studied the financial figures that Laura transmitted from her laptop to one of the monitors on the wall. "As you can see, our print publications, online sites, and broadcast divisions are all doing well."
"And Laura's show is still rated number one in TV news!" Kate reminded them. "Laura's popularity shows you that the people are behind her."
"Yeah, but that doesn't make up for the damage she's done to the rest of the corporation," said Irene.
"I'm just curious about something, Irene," Laura commented. "When Ken Martin canceled his appearance at the Pinnacle Awards ceremony and your deal to broadcast it fell through, the president's people claimed that he had a scheduling conflict and that it had nothing to do with my opposition to SafeVote. When Billie's new stadium got smacked down by the regulators, the Martin administration categorically denied that it had anything to do with my opposition to SafeVote. When protestors stormed Collier, again the Martin administration claimed they were not in any way involved with the group that started the protests. If the president that you defend over me is to be believed—and his administration had nothing to do with any of these issues—then why are you blaming me?"
"Come on, Laura, we weren't born yesterday," said Billie. "We know there's retaliation going on."
"Then why aren't you blaming them for hurting us? Why aren't you joining me?" Her eyes scanned her critics. "Why don't you call them out for the abuse of power that we all acknowledge is going on?"
"Because it's you that goads them," Clark told Laura. "We have to accept their behavior, but we certainly don't have to accept yours."
Laura's shoulders braced at what sounded like a veiled threat.
"Why do we have to accept their behavior without pushing back?"she said. "Isn't accepting it the same as giving them permission to attack us?"
Clark ignored Laura's questions and pointed to his oldest daughter. "Let's move on. Irene?"
"Our ratings are up, too," said Irene. "Take a look at this." She pulled up a table of figures on her laptop and transmitted it to one of the large monitors in the room. The others studied the information as she read statistics and financial data for her network, Taninger Entertainment.
"That's impressive," Clark commented.
"Since you recovered from losing the Pinnacle Awards, maybe you can ease up on attacking Laura," suggested Kate. Irene frowned at Kate's admonition.
"No thanks to Laura, I recovered. It's the new celebrity cooking show we started. Our viewers love getting recipes from their favorite stars and watching them cook the dishes in their own gorgeous kitchens. I'll tell you, this show is off the charts! Sponsors are lined up to support it," Irene reported.
"Very nice, Irene. Very nice," said Clark. "And Billie?"
"We negotiated with the manufacturer and installers to share in the cost of replacing the seating in the new stadium. That project's coming along, and it should be finished ahead of schedule. Our temporary venue for the Slammers is working out well. It's larger than our old stadium, and it's bringing in some nice revenue. Here, I'll show you." Billie posted numbers for Taninger Sports on the wall monitor.
"I'm glad you're doing better, Billie," said Laura.
"These numbers are better than I expected," Clark said, smiling and leaning back in his chair. Contentment was rare of late. "Thanks to Irene and Billie, Entertainment and Sports are managing to overcome losses they suffered from their recent . . . challenges." He glanced at Laura, his smile fading for an instant. "Despite all that's happened, things are going well for our corporation."
The news was greeted with an awkward silence. Like earthquake survivors wondering if an aftershock were imminent, the group looked wary.
"So we should be happy, right?" Kate asked tentatively.
"We cannot afford to be blindsided by another blow. We've weathered all the calamities we can handle for one year," said Clark.
Like the others, Laura felt uneasy. Were there tremors rumbling underground and about to break the surface? As if to reassure herself that their footing was still steady, she pulled up the latest news on her laptop, hoping she and her family would not be a part of it.
Billie loosened his tie and fidgeted nervously. "Would they dare hit us again?" he asked. "I mean, most of the media support the administration, and the public isn't exactly tuned into our issues, so would the Feds squeeze us even tighter and think they can get away with it?"
The group had no answer, only worried expressions.
"Oh, no!" Laura gasped, breaking the silence. "I'm afraid they would. I'm looking at the feed, and Taninger News is making headlines."
"What kind of headlines?" Billie leaned forward.
Laura displayed her news feed on a wall monitor. All heads turned to read it.
"What the hell's going on?" Clark read the titles of the latest headlines.
Is Taninger News a Media Monopoly?
The Growing Empire of Taninger News.
Is Taninger Manipulating News for Agenda?
"Look at this one just coming on," said Billie, reading the latest posting. "'Are Monopoly Charges Looming for Taninger News?'" He looked stunned. "Monopoly charges?"
The headlines floated through the room like fumes ready to explode.
Clark's voice was heavy with worry. "Laura, what's the meaning of this?"
Laura looked at her family, shocked and dismayed. "I fear it means that the Martin administration knows I took the Bureau of Elections to court. I petitioned Elections for the information they're withholding about a company called Integrated Foxworth Technologies that they apparently brought in through a no-bid contract to modify SafeVote. There's no evidence that such a company ever existed prior to this contract. Don't you see how serious this is?" her voice rose in an urgent call for her family to understand.
Laura continued, "I think these articles mean that I'm getting damn close to learning something the Feds don't want me to know. I think someone in the Martin administration triggered this, and their friends in the media—who happen to be our competitors—are more than happy to run with these hit pieces."
"Are they just rumors to rattle us?" Clark interjected.
"I don't know," Laura replied. "But I think we can assume there are huge ramifications to the story I'm investigating, and they're trying to stop me. It's the hottest story about the most dangerous abuse of power in our time. And a whistleblower involved with it has already been killed." Her voice pleaded. "This latest attack means I'm hot on the trail of something big, and I can't stop now."
Clark bristled at Laura. "It means, you must stop. Now!"
"The man who started this company, who built this corporation, and who gave all of us our jobs—that man would want us to pursue this story," Laura insisted.
"That was then. Now things are different," said Irene.
"I think we all need to calm down," said Kate. "I think Martin's people and their media friends are just spreading rumors to make us look bad, so the public will question our credibility. We need to stick by Laura with this story, or do you want the nation's voting to be rigged?"
"Quiet!" Clark whirled to Kate. "You're not a member of management, young lady. You shouldn't even be allowed in here!"
Undeterred, Kate continued. "I don't think the Martin administration can risk hitting us with anything else. The public could turn against them. Our ratings show that we have a big following. President Martin can't risk overplaying his hand."
The others were silent, ruminating, as Kate started a search on her phone, tapping the screen several times, and read a display.
"Listen," Kate continued. "I just opened one of these stories. It says things like, 'according to anonymous sources' . . . 'rumors have it' . . . 'Taninger News may be overextending its reach, according to some in government' . . . It's all smoke. The media has nothing tangible to report, only innuendoes and suppositions that make good click bait."
"Maybe she's right," said Billie. "Maybe we are being a little paranoid."
"If Laura drops her crusade right now, maybe we'll be home free," said Irene.
Clark looked thoughtful. "Maybe these commentaries are just warning shots. If the administration is contemplating any action against us, maybe they'll back off—if we back off first, which we will." He looked pointedly at Laura. "You hear?"
Laura didn't reply.
Clark continued, "Once we get out of the election business, we'll be on our way to record profits and one of the strongest growth periods in our history! I have to say, I'm pleased with the financials. The corporation is strong. Every branch is growing."
"Let's not let Laura screw it up," chided Irene.
Just then the door opened. An assistant entered and walked to Clark.
"Excuse me. This just came in. I thought you'd want to see it." The aide handed a document to Clark and left.
Clark's eyes darted across the page. His body tensed. "It's from the Bureau of Fair Trade."
The others glanced at each other, concerned.
Clark held out to them the document that bore the Bureau's official seal. "So they do dare to strike us again! This is a complaint filed by the Bureau of Fair Trade against Taninger News. We are under investigation for having a disproportionate share of the media market, which they claim is in violation of federal anti-monopoly statutes."
"What!" Irene gasped.
"Hell, no!" Billie said, incredulous.
Kate closed her eyes for a moment in horrified disbelief.
Clark continued, "The Bureau says that the public is being harmed by our undue influence on the nation's media. I quote, 'On a monthly basis, Taninger News' national television station and expansive network of online sites and print publications reach over two-thirds of the American population, exposing the public to news from the biased perspective of one company. The media overreach from the company's broadcast, online, and print divisions hinders competition, which harms our democracy.'"
Clark held the document in one hand and wiped the sweat off his forehead with the other. He quickly read the rest to himself, put the document down, and addressed the others. "The Bureau of Fair Trade claims that in order for us to correct our allegedly unlawful dominance of the news media, Taninger News must divest itself of one or more of its divisions." Everyone looked mortified. "They say that having our three venues—television, print newspapers, and online news—constitutes a monopolistic threat to the public!"
Billie's face looked caught in a vise, with his eyes bulging and his jaw tight. "They can't get away with this! . . . Can they?"
"Damned if I know," Clark said with a shrug. "But I'll spend a few years of my life and millions in legal fees to find out!"
Irene grimaced with a sudden realization. "They can get away with it, and they will! It's just like what the Bureau of Fair Trade did to . . . Reed Miller."
"This is exactly what you deserve, the three of you!" Kate said, glaring at her father, Billie, and Irene.
"Shut up!" snapped Clark.
"You didn't want Laura to defend Reed. He was the competition. You wanted him to be crushed. Laura told all of you that someday it could happen to us, but you were so short-sighted, so totally unprincipled that you wouldn't stand with her. JT would've been ashamed of you!"
"One more word out of you and I'll ban you from these meetings!" Clark thundered, pointing at Kate. Then he turned to Laura. "Your show has to end!" he demanded.
"It's about time we pulled the plug on her!" said Irene.
Laura shot up and leaned across the table toward her critics.
"Dad, Irene, Billie," she said, taking a moment to look each of them in the eye, "I feel terrible about this. I feel horrible about how the Martin crowd's hatred of me is hurting you. But I'd feel a whole lot worse if we not only had to suffer these hits, but we gave up the fight. We have to expose whatever it is they're hell-bent on us not finding out. We can't stop now! I plead with you to stand by me and fight this." She looked at three faces that remained unmoved. "What have we always been at our core? A news organization whose mission is to find the truth and to hold those in power accountable! If we quit now, it means we've lost our core."
Clark stroked his chin. Irene pushed back a strand of hair. Billie looked blank. Only Kate showed an intensity in her eyes, as if she'd heard something important.
"Frankly, I couldn't care less about some lofty, la-di-da truth if it brings about the demise of our enterprise," said Clark. "Does anyone else care about Laura's crusade?"
"Not me," said Irene. "Billie?"
"It's gone way too far," Billie said to Laura. "Remember, we're in business. We need to leave the big issues and grandiose truths to others."
Clark stood up and leaned in to address Laura face-to-face across the table. "Just the Truth is going off the air, and you're going off with it!"
Irene chimed in, saying, "Tonight, you can tell your audience that it's your last appearance on Just the Truth. You're moving on to exciting new activities, so you'll be passing the baton to a new host with a fresh, new show. Make it all sound nice. Then get a guest host for a couple of weeks till you assemble the new programming, and you're all set."
"That's absurd, Irene. No one would believe it. Everyone would know we sold our souls and caved to political pressure!" Laura insisted.
"You'll do it nonetheless," Clark demanded. "You'll replace Just the Truth with a news show that has balanced programming and a non-polarizing host. That's an order."
Laura stared at her father, speechless.
"That'll be the peace offering I'll take to the Feds. And we'll hope to hell I can persuade them to drop their plans to break us up!"
Then Clark grabbed the document from the agency charged with upholding fairness, and he stormed out.
That day, Laura remained in her office, deep in thought, leaving the show preparation to her staff. When they came in with questions—We want Senator Frank to come on for a segment on stopping crime, okay? . . . Ed Smith can do a live report from the Capitol on the education bill coming up for a vote tonight, okay?—Laura gave brief answers with the detachment of a sleepwalker.
The pain that gripped her since the executive management meeting that morning had only grown sharper. Was it right to continue her crusade? After her management partners—her family—were adamantly against it? Was it right to risk the breakup of Taninger News? Should she relent to her family's wishes? If she gave up the SafeVote matter, the Feds would probably drop the suit against Taninger News. That was exactly what Reed Miller did, he gave in to the pressure. He averted the breakup of his company, and he ended his problems with the Feds. Look at him today; he's still wealthy and successful. . . . But is he happy? she wondered.
Her concerned staff brought her lunch. She ate a few bites, then pushed the food aside.
"Laura, when will we get the opening?" Tom Shiner asked.
"It's coming," she replied.
What would she say in her Daily Memo? Her staff was waiting to load it into the teleprompter. She felt like someone trying to decide on her means of execution. Would she face the firing squad head-on, or jump off the roof and hit the pavement facedown?
She thought of all the people she was hurting. Even Katie! She painfully recalled the incredulity she saw on that sweet face. Then she thought of JT. He had told her that a company was like a person. To be the best that it could be, a business, like a person, had to have a purpose it aimed to achieve and the character to achieve it honorably. The purpose, he insisted, had to be something important, worthy . . . noble. She missed the proud tilt of his head when he said things like that to her. The newspaper business for him was a calling, a profound expression of both the goals he dedicated his life to and of his character—his honesty and valor—in achieving them.
Finally, she made her decision. In the breathless pace of a high speed train, she wrote her opening monologue, the words screeching and clanging from her thoughts to her keyboard.
Soon her words were stretching across the airwaves as she began the show.
"Good evening and welcome to Just the Truth. I'm Laura Taninger. Previously, we've discussed methods that we believe the Martin administration is using to suppress free speech. These methods have been largely indirect—delaying the release of information harmful to the government, and using favors, threats, smears, and regulations to harm the government's critics and businesses connected with them. Then, we discussed how the administration, in effect, condones violence when it hides behind organizations tied to its ideology and policies as these groups stage riots to bully and shut down political opponents. Now, the government is taking off the mask, dispensing with the friendly face, and bypassing the use of surrogates. Now, the government is doing its dirty work in full public view.
"The subject of my Daily Memo tonight is: Tools of Silence: Shutting Down the Free Press." The camera moved in closer to her face. Her expression was solemn, her tone serious.
"In a flagrant abuse of power, the Bureau of Fair Trade has opened an investigation into Taninger News to determine whether it finds us to be a monopoly that needs to be broken up—due to our expansive audience reach through our electronic, print, and broadcast components. Funny, we've been in business for decades, yet Fair Trade has just now taken an interest in us. This is an attack on a successful company that serves you, our audience, and delivers its content through different modes so that you can decide how you want to receive your news. Because you select us as your news source, it's also an attack on your freedom and an attempt to hide the truth from you."
She spoke with a growing intensity. "This latest attack of the Martin administration on Taninger Enterprises is the most dangerous because it's a direct attempt to regulate a news organization. It's an explicit attack on freedom of the press."
She paused a moment to let the audience absorb her words.
"To silence Taninger News, the administration is arbitrarily enforcing antitrust laws, claiming that Taninger News does not serve the public good due to monopolistic practices. So you see, it's the government, not you the public, that gets to decide which companies are and are not serving what it deems to be your interest. All I know is, we're serving you, our audience, who freely choose us over our competitors, and we have not committed any crimes.
"Since the administration is accusing us of what they say are violations of the law, I have a few things that I accuse them of, as well.
"I accuse the Martin administration of intentionally delaying, stalling, and ignoring valid requests for information about its new voting program because it has something to hide.
"I accuse the administration of instigating media smears against me and my family in order to discredit me and destroy my reputation simply because I'm a political watchdog.
"I accuse the Martin administration of pressuring a would-be client of Taninger Entertainment—the Pinnacle Awards—and causing the cancelation of a lucrative contract.
"I accuse the administration of using unfair and capriciously enforced building regulations to thwart the opening of the new stadium for the DC Slammers, thereby causing financial losses and a public relations nightmare for Taninger Sports.
"I accuse the administration of being the secret instigator behind the recent riots at Collier University, which led to the expulsion of my sister, an honor student, who did nothing more than voice her opinion defending me in a student publication.
"I accuse the Martin administration of doing great harm to my family as a prelude to its most brazen move yet, which is to subvert our news organization and achieve its real goal: the control of political speech.
"I accuse the administration of engineering all of these abuses in order to silence me in my investigation of suspicious activities surrounding the SafeVote program.
"I accuse the administration of hiding from public view a major contractor—IFT—and the nature of that contractor's work on SafeVote."
She raised her head and took a deep breath, like someone bracing to land a final knock-out punch—or to receive one.
"I accuse the Martin administration of tampering with the upcoming presidential election."
Her staff in the control room looked at one other in shock. This line was not in the teleprompter. They did not know it was coming.
"If I'm wrong, then let the administration release the documents I've petitioned, which you, the people, are entitled to have. We want those documents. We want to see what's going on during this federal takeover of our election system."
She shook her head regretfully, like someone saddened by a weighty burden that she never wanted to carry. Her voice softened as she said, "There was once a temple called America. She stood proudly on her great pillars of freedom. Now, a corrupt and power-hungry administration is chipping away at those pillars, leaving America swaying." For a moment, she looked younger and more vulnerable as she led her viewers into her confidence. "I'm caught between the survival of my family's businesses and my controversy with the Martin administration. But as long as I'm here and you're here, my loyal audience, we'll do our own chipping away—at corruption and deceit—until we finally get to the bottom of this."